Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Darin Olver

Darin Olver
Born (1985-03-05) March 5, 1985 (age 39)
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Left winger
Shot Left
DEL team
Former teams
Schwenninger Wild Wings
Hartford Wolf Pack
Straubing Tigers
Augsburger Panther
Eisbären Berlin
ERC Ingolstadt
NHL draft 36th overall, 2004
New York Rangers
Playing career 2007–2021

Darin Olver (born March 5, 1985) is a Canadian-born German professional ice hockey left winger. He is currently playing for Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Playing career

Olver played high school hockey at Eastview High School under head coach Mike Gibbons. Highly recruited out of Canada, he helped his high school team reach the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament in 2001. Olver played college hockey at Northern Michigan University and was a second round, 36th overall, NHL draft pick of the New York Rangers. Upon graduating from his collegiate career, Olver joined the Rangers American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, on an amateur try-out to end the 2006–07 season.

Without an offer from the Rangers, Olver left for Germany, signing a one-year contract with the Fischtown Pinguins of the 2nd Bundesliga. Leading Fischtown with 56 points in 52 contests, Olver was picked up by DEL team, the Straubing Tigers.

With a season limited by injury and producing only 11 points, Olver left for the Augsburger Panther, signing a one-year contract on March 2, 2009.[1] In the 2009–10 season, Olver broke out to be among the DEL leaders with 60 points, resulting in helping an unlikely Augsburg reach the finals for the first time in their DEL history and quickly earning a one-year extension on March 17, 2010.[2][3]

Olver consolidated his position among the elite in Germany in the following 2010–11 season. Despite Augsburg returning to the bottom echelons of the DEL, Olver led the entire league with 47 assists and 70 points to be awarded the DEL's player of the year.

On May 2, 2011, Olver left Augsburg and signed with reigning champions Eisbären Berlin.[4] He won back-to-back German championships with the Eisbären team in 2012 and 2013. Olver left Berlin after the conclusion of the 2016–17 season and signed with fellow DEL side ERC Ingolstadt.[5]

After three seasons with Ingolstadt, Olver left as a free agent and was signed to a one-year contract to continue in the DEL with the Schwenninger Wild Wings on August 20, 2020.

International play

Olver made his debut on the German national team during the 2010 Deutschland Cup.[6]

Personal

Olver comes from a hockey family. His father, John, played in college and coached many teams in Canada and the United States, including two years as an assistant coach for Northern Michigan University while Darin played there. His younger brother Mark Olver also played hockey at Northern Michigan and most recently plays for Eisbären Berlin in Germany.

Olver's maternal grandparents immigrated from Germany to Canada;[7] he received a German passport in 2007.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Eastview High School HSMN
2001–02 Eastview High School HSMN
2002–03 Chilliwack Chiefs BCHL 59 34 55 89 57
2003–04 Northern Michigan University CCHA 41 13 19 32 26
2004–05 Northern Michigan University CCHA 40 9 34 43 30
2005–06 Northern Michigan University CCHA 36 15 20 35 32
2006–07 Northern Michigan University CCHA 41 14 20 34 47
2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 6 1 0 1 8
2007–08 Fischtown Pinguins GER.2 52 21 35 56 56 7 7 4 11 6
2008–09 Straubing Tigers DEL 35 2 9 11 18
2009–10 Augsburger Panther DEL 56 26 34 60 60 14 6 7 13 6
2010–11 Augsburger Panther DEL 48 23 47 70 42
2011–12 Eisbären Berlin DEL 49 24 25 49 54 13 4 10 14 6
2012–13 Eisbären Berlin DEL 34 15 17 32 57 13 4 8 12 8
2013–14 Eisbären Berlin DEL 51 12 25 37 40
2014–15 Eisbären Berlin DEL 52 10 26 36 18 3 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Eisbären Berlin DEL 49 14 26 40 36 7 1 0 1 18
2016–17 Eisbären Berlin DEL 40 13 18 31 18 14 3 3 6 10
2017–18 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 52 17 19 36 24 5 0 1 1 0
2018–19 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 46 9 14 23 34 7 1 1 2 8
2019–20 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 47 2 11 13 28
2020–21 Schwenninger Wild Wings DEL 15 1 5 6 12
DEL totals 574 168 276 444 441 76 19 30 49 56

References

  1. ^ "Augsburger Panther commit to Olver" (in German). Augsburger Panther. 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  2. ^ "Cinderella story playing out in the DEL playoffs". National Hockey League. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  3. ^ "Panthers re-sign Olver!" (in German). Augsburger Panther. 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  4. ^ "Rankel, Braun, Busch, Hördler stay - 2 come!" (in German). Eisbären Berlin. 2011-05-02. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
  5. ^ "OLVER KOMMT, OPPENHEIMER GEHT". Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  6. ^ "Deutschland-Cup für die Augsburger Eishockey-Debütanten Kettemer, Kohl und Olver wie ein Märchen". Schwäbisches Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-26.
  7. ^ Rubert, Dajana. "Darin und Mark Olver: Weihnachten mit der Familie, ein Traum erfüllt sich in Berlin | Berliner-Kurier.de". Berliner-Kurier.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-26.